Snow-scraper



(No Model.)`

G. A. BIRCH.

. SNOW SGRAPER. No. 404,952. Patented June 11, 1889.

Wbtn @556,91 4, Invmzw.' A fG. 3. GEORGE/4.8mm,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. BIRCH, OF EAST GREENBUSH, NEW YORK.

SNOW-SCRAPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.` 404,952, dated J' une11, 1889.

Application filed March 3, 1888.

T0 all whom/vit mag/concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. BIRCH, of East Greenbush, in the county ofRensselaer and State of New York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Snow-Scrapers, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements on the snow-scraper for whichLetters Patent of the United States No. 360,196 were granted me on the29th day of March, 1887, and the object of this present improvement isto render the apparatus more effective in its operation. This object lattain by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, whichare herein referred to and form part of this specification, and .inwhich- Figure 1 is a plan view of my scraper with.

the face-board adjusted in position for scraping. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal section of the same at the line X X; and Fig. 3 is a sideelevation with the nearest runner broken away, showing the face-board inposition for dumping the snow therefrom. V

-As represented in the drawings, A designates the sleigh or runners onwhich the faceboardv or scraper is mounted for the purpose of moving itfrom place to place. Said runners are rigidly connected-lat `a requireddistance apart by means of *ai cross-tie 1 near their forward end, andnear the rearward end by a back-board 2 and tie-bolts 3. The under sideof said runners at the rearmost end have an upwardly-inclined face 4, onwhich the weight of the apparatus and its superimposed load is bornewhen it is being drawn up a hillside. The back-board 2 forms astationary back piece for the face-board B when the latter is loaded oris accumulating its load.

B is the face-board or scraper, which has the rearmost side of its loweredge beveled upwardly to form a scraping-edge at that point, which isprovided with a metallic strip or shoe 5 to give it greater endurancefor wear. Said face-board is loosely fitted between the runners A, andis provided at each end with a lug 6, having a trunnion 7 projectinglaterally therefrom, the same forming offset pivots on which saidface-board can be tilted, and whereby the scraping-edge of saidface-board will be raised from the surface of the ice, as indicated bydotted lines in Fig. 2, when re- Serial No. 266,083. (No model.)

quired to stop the apparatus from scraping or for passing over anyslight obstruction. The face-board By is connected by means ofl rods Cto the cranks 8 of a transverse shaft D, 5 5 that is journaled on asliding cross-bar E. The rods C are pivoted to the face-board B, so asto form a iiexible joint therewith. The shaft D is provided with ahand-lever F, hav- 4in g a spring-bolt 9, which is fitted to engage l 6o'the notches of a quadrant G, so as to rock said shaft and hold it atany point of its movement, and thereby change the angle of inclinationof the face-board B, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, to suit therequirements 65 fof the occasion. l The sliding cross-bar E is litt-edto slide in loops 10, which are secured to the upper edge of the runnersA at the foremost part of the latter, and to facilitate theslidingmovement 7o of said cross-bar it is preferably provided `with.rollers 11 at each end, and upon its un- 'der side with rollers 12,which bear against the inner sides of the runners to prevent any'endwise movement of said cross-bar. Shafts 75 4lvl-for a single horseor a pole for a team of horses is attached to the cross-bar E, so thatIthe strain. applied by the animal-power will 'act directly upon saidcross-bar. To the forward edge of the latter there is pivoted a 8odrop-latch 13, which is litted to engage with the cross-tie 1 of therunners, so as to secure the cross-bar E in its rearmost position whilethe apparatusis perform ing its work of scraping. A hand-lever 14 isformed or fixed upon 85 the drop-latch 13 for disengaging .the latterfrom the cross-tie 1, so that the cross-bar E can be drawn forward tothe foremost end of the loops 10, and thereby eifect Vthe tilting overof the face-board B into the position 9o shown in Fig. 3 for the purposeof dumping the load of snow from said face-board.

A drivers seat 15 is supported by the sliding bar E, and is providedwith an arm 16,

which extends rearwardly therefrom, and 95 which is supported on aroller 17, that is journaled in a stud 18, which is secured to astationary part of the apparatus. ByY this arrangement of the driversseat the driver is enabled to remain in the same position in re- Ioospect to his distance fromy the horse during all changes of the positionof the sliding bar E.

My snow-scraper operates in the following manner: The scraper with theanimals hitched thereto being on the ice-field, with the scraping-edgeof the face-board regulated to penetrate to the required depth into thesnow, the animals are started forward to draw the scraper, and the snowthatis thereby removed from the ice will be forced up onto the faceboardB until the required load is accumulated thereon. Then the driver, bymeans of the hand-lever F, tilts the face-board to raise itsscraping-edge clear from the surface of the ice, the Weight of the loadon the faceboard is borne on the runners A, and in this condition it isdrawn to the dumping-ground. On reaching the latter the driver, withoutstopping the movement of his horses, raises the outer end of thedrop-latch 13 to release the sliding bar E, thereby leaving the latterfree to move forward independently of any movement of the runners A, andby this forward movement of the sliding barE the faceboard B is causedto tilt over and dump the load that has been resting thereon. Theapparatus, With its face-board still overturned, is then drawn from thedumping-ground to the ice-field, and on reaching the latter the horsesare backed to push the sliding bar E rearwardly until the drop-latch 13becomes re-engaged with the cross-tie l, and in accomplishing thislatter movement the face-board B is restored to its position forscraping.

It will be seen that the stationary backboard 2, which is permanentlysecured to the runners A, forms a back piece for the faceboard B, whichprojects above the uppermost edge of the latter when arranged inposition for scraping, and thereby forms a guard to prevent the snow,When it is passing 11p the inclined face of the face-board, from fallingover the upper edge of said face-board to the ice from which it has justbeen removed.

I claim as my inventionlf. ln a snow-scraper, the combination of asleigh or runners provided with atilting faceboard that is looselyfitted thereto, anda sliding cross-bar to which the animal-power isattached, and which is provided with a latch that is fitted to engagewith a iixed part of said sleigh, the said sliding cross-bar beingconnected by pivoted rods to said face-board, as and for the purposeherein specified.

2. In a snow-scraper, the combination of a sleigh or runners providedwith a loosely-fitted tilting face-board, a sliding cross-bar to whichthe animal-power is attached, and which is provided with a latch that isfitted to engage with a fixed part of said sleigh, and a rockingcrank-shaft journaled on said crossbar and provided with a hand-leverhaving a spring-latch that is fitted to engage in a notched quadrant,the cranks of said rockshaft being connected by pivoted rods to saidface-board, as and for the purpose herein specified.

3. In a snow-scraper, the combination of a sleigh or runners providedwith a stationary back-board, and atilting face-board, which is looselypivoted directly to said runners and whose uppermost edge is fitted tolie in close proximity to the face of said back-board, and the latterprojecting above the uppermost edge of said face-board, so as to formaguard which will prevent the snow from escaping over the upper edge ofthe faceboard, as and for the purpose herein specified.

4. In a snow-scraper, the combination of a sleigh or runners providedwith a standard having a friction-roller j ournaled therein, and asliding cross-barhavinga drivers seat erected thereon, said seat beingprovided with a rearwardly-proj ecting arm which bears upon saidfriction-roller, as and for the purpose herein specified.

GEORGE A. BIRCH.

Witnesses:

XVM. II. Low, S. B. BREWER.

